I have been involved in some form with the Social Media Club Boston Chapter since its founding in 2006, and remain so to this day, currently serving as a member of the board. This year, the parent organization is raising operational funds and asking people, past and present members and friends, to submit their stories with the “#MySMCStory” hashtag. Here’s mine.
Why is 2006 important? As much as there are great social media events, programs and professional successes with or without SMC, its establishment was one of the original beachheads in social media’s invasion of the communications disciplines. 2006 was a big year for me in that regard. Although I had been using social media extensively for about two years at the time of the first Boston Chapter gathering, getting something formal together was a big undertaking. Right around this time I also got involved in the very first PodCamp and first logged on to Twitter, but this is about Social Media Club.
Led by my then-colleague (at Topaz Partners) and friend Todd Van Hoosear along with others (I don;t want to leave people out, but Todd was definitely my entry point), Social Media Club Boston debuted with a large gathering that piggybacked on the presence of the Society for New Communications Research Symposium- another organization I have been supportive of since then.
The inaugural meeting is my “story” because it involved so many world’s within social media for me. The Boston contingent, including Todd, Steve Garfield, David Meerman Scott et al. Also there were folks who would later leave Boston, like Bryan Person (Austin) and Scott Monty (Detroit). Last, aside from a fellow school parent I have only come to know well recently, we’re two people who would hire me over the next few years. Yes, my professional life was more or less laid out for me that night. That’s my Social Media Club story. What’s yours?